All under the sun
A cloister of deep research devoted to the Earth and to the sky, to the origin of the world and to the models of human society.
Non-profit foundation in the course of incorporation. Cartagena de Indias, Republic of Colombia.
Submit an applicationIndividui pro veritate
Institutions that endure are not born of a subscription or of a campaign. They are born of a small number of persons who resolve to raise something intended to outlive them. Thus were built the libraries, the observatories and the cloisters that stand to this day: with stone, with patience and with a few names entered in the deed of foundation.
Omnia Sub Sole offers neither return nor ownership. It offers permanence: a stone building conceived to endure for centuries, an archive that preserves the work of those who compose it, and an entity without owners, whose assets may be neither alienated nor divided. Those who join at this stage acquire nothing: they found.
A permanent seat for work at present dispersed: a library, an archive and study rooms with an address of their own.
The first signatories are recorded as founding members in the deed of incorporation, a public and permanent document.
Contributions are converted into foundations, walls and vaults. Each section built is recorded under the name of the person who made it possible.
Studies are published under their author's name, submitted to internal review and preserved in the archive of the Foundation.
One member of the cloister, one vote, irrespective of the sum contributed. Influence is not acquired with money.
Access to the library, to the symposia and to the field programmes. At a later phase, residence for those who evidence one year of collaboration.
The Foundation has not been incorporated and receives no financial contributions. Those wishing to take part may register and, should they see fit, sign a letter of commitment; no payment is involved.
Omnia Sub Sole is a non-profit foundation in the course of incorporation. Its purpose is to raise and maintain, on the outskirts of Cartagena de Indias, a cloister of deep study and research, furnished with an archive and a library and conceived to endure.
The Foundation has no owners. Whatever it receives or raises, the land, the building and the archive, shall belong to the entity, and its assets may not be distributed among individuals. Upon dissolution they would pass to another non-profit body of similar purposes.
The work of the cloister follows a deliberate order: first, the place we inhabit; then its origin; and, upon that foundation, the manner in which men live together.
Study of the shape of the Earth and observation of the sky through the critical examination of the models advanced throughout history, including those not accepted by contemporary science, drawing on historical cartography, ancient sources and direct observation.
Study of the origin of the world and of its Creator through the creation accounts of the several cultures, ancient texts and philosophy. It constitutes a line of research: the Foundation is not a church, nor does it require adherence to any creed.
Study of the causes of the great ills of human history, war, famine, insecurity, racism and intolerance, and comparative examination of the models of social organisation, with the aim of proposing more just and more lasting models of common life.
The Foundation conceives deep research as rigorous, unhurried and documented work, subject to the following rules:
The lines of research are supported by three field programmes, conducted with the Foundation's own means.
Balloons of the Foundation's own design, furnished with measuring instruments, high-definition video, real-time transmission and the recording of unidentified aerial phenomena.
Long-distance photography and laser measurement over land and over large bodies of water.
Charts drawn from aerial observation, field measurement and historical cartography.
The premises shall be raised in phases on a plot of 1,012 m² in El Rancho I, a country estate developed by San Martín Group in Santa Rosa de Lima, some twenty minutes from Cartagena de Indias, which the founder shall contribute to the entity once it is incorporated and the deed executed. The estate's rules require a 1.5 m setback from boundaries and limit height to two storeys plus a roof terrace; the preliminary design complies with both. The building shall consist of two storeys arranged about a central courtyard, raised wholly in stone.
Floor plans of the preliminary design: some 440 m² built per floor, plus a central courtyard of 54 m². The definitive layout and orientation shall be settled with the architectural project, and the definitive design shall be subject to technical studies, to the building permit and to the rules of the estate.
Collaboration is subject to no fee whatsoever. The condition of member of the cloister, which carries voice and vote, entails an annual fee fixed by the council. In no case does the sum contributed confer a greater say in decisions.
Research in primary sources, translation and the writing of studies.
Stonemasonry, bricklaying, carpentry and the remaining building trades.
The cataloguing and preservation of maps, books and documents.
Accounts, official procedures and regulatory compliance.
Financial contributions, once the Foundation is incorporated.
Photographic and audiovisual record of the project.
Design of balloons, measuring systems and data transmission.
Surveying, aerial photography and the drawing of charts.
The Foundation is incorporated with a minimum of ten signatories, who are entered as founding members in the deed. That body is not enlarged; participation, by contrast, remains open in perpetuity, and the cloister is sustained by new members and by sources of income conceived to last as long as the building.
Admission remains open: application, a period of collaboration and the approval of the council. Members support the entity through an annual fee.
Occasional or periodic contributions from those who do not hold the condition of members. Every contribution receives its certificate.
Each phase yields elements that may bear, as symbolic recognition, the name of whoever funds them: an ashlar, a window or a room.
Subscription to the publications of the cloister: the most modest source and the steadiest.
The Foundation's own income from the opening of the premises, distinct from members' fees and from donations.
The Foundation accepts bequests, applied wholly to the building and its preservation.
A fixed share of every unrestricted contribution is set aside in a reserve not applied to current expenditure. That reserve provides for the preservation of the building and of the archive in those years in which no works or campaign are in progress.
Financial contributions shall be received only once the Foundation is incorporated and holds a bank account of its own.
Those who wish to take part in the project may complete the form below. Every application is examined individually, and registered applicants are invited to the monthly meetings.
Visits are received by prior appointment only, which may be requested by WhatsApp or by e-mail.
Torre Empresarial Prodegi, floor 18
Bocagrande, Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, Colombia